Improvement in cutting apparatus of reaping and mowing machines



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM S. MCCORMICK, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO CYRUS H.

' MOCORMICK.

IMPROVEMENT IN CUTTING APPARATUS 0F REAPING AND MOWING MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 33,680, dated November5, 1861.

.To all whom it may concern f Beit known that I, WILLIAM S..MoCoa MICK,ot' Chicago, in the county ot' Cook and State of Illinois, have inventedcertain new and useful Improvements in Cutting Apparatus for Reaping andMowing Machines, of which the following` is a full, clear, and exactdescription, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, whichmakes part ot' this specification, and which represents a view inperspective of a portion of the finger-beam, of the series of ingers,and of the cutter of a mowing-machine embracing my improvements.

The clearance ot tough and tine tibers of grass from the slots of thefingers through which the scalloped cutter vibrates in mowing-machinesis exceedingly diflicult, and cutters have been made withvariously-formed projections from their upper, under, and rear sides,for the purpose of tearing on" or cutting ofi' such ibrous matter,which, it' allowed to accumulate, would soon clog the cutter. Myinvention is an improvement upon such contrivances and it consists iuaiixing upon the side of the cutter a series ot' long narrowprojections, inclined on one side and vertical on the other, likeratchet-teeth, and parallel to the lineof vibration ot' the cutter, soas to act by their vertical sides as a series ot' raketeeth. Theseprojections correspond in number and distance apart with the fingers,and theyare so arranged with respect to the tin gers and the range ofvibration ot'thecutteris such that the inclined side of the projectionis never drawn entirely through the slot of the guard finger in .whichit works; nor is the vertical side of the projection pushed through thespa-ce between the fingers into the slot ot' the next finger. This isimportant, because it' the vertical sides ot' the projections were sweptacross the spaces between the lingers into the slots of the fingers theywould carry with them straws and other obstructing matter into the slot,which would not be brought out again Very readily by the inclined sideof the projection on the reverse motion, and thus theclearing-projection,tor want ot a proper range of motion, would createthe very tendency to clog which it was designed to cure.

The linger-beam A, ingers B, and the cutter,.as shown in the drawing;are ofthe kind commonly used in the McCormick mowers, and therefore neednot be here described. The motion of the cutter is exactly equal to thedistance from center to center of the fingers, and that is the exactdistance between the vertical sides t ofthe projections D on the uppersides of the cutters. The motion of the cutter from the vertical towardthe inclined side ofthe projection terminatesgwhen the verticalside ofthe projection is opposite the vertical corner b of the slot ofthefingers, and

the motion of the cutter inthe opposite direction terminates when theside t of the projection reaches the corner b of the next finger. Thusarranged the projections are pushed I'orward into the slots of theugers, with their slant sides foremost, and emerge from the slots withtheir vertical sides foremost,and as these vertical sides can only carryor detach clogging matter on their forward movement. it follows thatthey act only to push clogging` matter out of the slots ot' the fingers,and never to carry itin. Theinclined sides ofthe projections have butlittle capacity for push ing anything' forward, and tend rather to passunder clogging matter and let it slide over to the front ot' thevertical side ot' the projection, by which it isV at once seized andtorn away and worked out ot' the slot of the finger.

` What I claim is- 'Ihe cutter having a series ot'- clearing-projectionsconstructed, arranged, and Vibrating as described, in combination withthe series of guard-fin gers, arranged as described, whereby theliability ot' the cutting apparatus to clog is diminished, substantiallyas described.

1n testimony whereof I have hereunto subA scribed my name.

TVM. S. MOCORMICK.

Witnesses:

JAMES T. GRIFFIN, j GEORGE M. EVERTS.

